Santa Ana Road residents suffer in mud, debris

Residents along Santa Ana Road in Casitas Springs have suffered through
rain-swollen rivers, mud and debris on the road and evacuations during
the storm that gripped the area this week.

The road running parallel and west of Highway 33 was closed early
Monday after mudslides and flooding in the nearby hills. About five
miles of the road is inaccessible, from Casitas Vista Road near Foster
Park to Santa Ana Boulevard. Parts of Camp Chaffee and Casitas Vista
roads and Sky High Drive are also closed to anyone but residents. No
one knows when the streets will be back to normal.

"Help has been slow, but it's understandable with all the horror in
La Conchita," said Camp Chaffee Road resident Bill Geyers.

According to Geyers, mud and water began trickling down from the
hills Sunday night, but the worst of the damage came early Monday.

"My son came to my house and helped me leave on Monday," Geyers
said. "Because of all the water, we had to use a rope to get out of my
house and on to safe ground."

About a dozen people were voluntarily evacuated Sunday night
following a recommendation by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
They have all returned.

Residents say at least two houses were destroyed.

Barbara Caldwell has lived on Santa Ana for 24 years. She said she
believes the mess on the road will take weeks to clean.

"In some places, there are mounds of mud 20 feet high and 100 feet
wide," said Caldwell. "We had the chunk of a hillside come down on our
property, but the hardest hit on Santa Ana was a neighbor of ours. He
had a wall of water and mud hit his house."

Caldwell said the same happened to another man on Santa Ana.

"The people who had the most trouble were people living on Casitas
Vista. The creek running along the street basically turned into a
raging river coming down the roadway."

Homes along Casitas Vista high enough above Coyote River, which
starts below the dam on Lake Casitas, were the least damaged.

"We were lucky enough to have only our garage and lawn and fences
destroyed. A house further down the streambed was in 4 feet of water,"
said Joanne Hawley, a 35-year Casitas Vista resident.

Hawley and her husband were at home when the river swelled beyond
its normal capacity because of runoff from the hillsides.

"A man on the other side of the creek keeps all his work equipment
outside near the streambed," Hawley said. "During the storm, his truck
and equipment were all taken into the water."

"People were coming together who had never met before," Caldwell
said. "It was nice to get to know a lot of people in the area but still
hard knowing the situation around us."